Raph's Nightmare
by TurtleGirl4Life
Summary: After the Brainworm incident Raphael finds himself caught in a nightmare. It's up to Leonardo to comfort his terrified brother.


Raphael was strapped down to a lab table, thick leather straps pinning him down. All around him was dark and quiet. Then he heard it. The whirling sound of a saw. No worse. The sound of the brain worm. Metal tongs appeared from the darkness, and the disgusting, wriggling worm was pinched tightly in between them. Raph tried to turn his head away, but it was as if an invisible grip was holding his head in place. The tongs let go of the worm, dropping it on Raph's face. Raph clamped his beak shut and closed his eyes, feeling like he wanted to vomit as the thing squirmed and crawled up his face to his forehead. Once it found what it was looking for it raised up and lurched forward, drilling into Raphael's skull. He screamed bloody murder as the pain became more intense the further the worm burrowed inside his head. Then the pain became worse once the worm found his brain. Everything went white with pain.

Suddenly Raph realized he was no longer strapped down onto the table. He was now kneeling in Shredder's throne room. Shredder was standing in front of him. "I'm so proud of you Raphael." He spoke in his monotone voice, sending chills down Raph's spine. "You have done something none of my useless henchmen could ever do. You killed Hamato Yoshi and the Turtles." Raph's eyes widened in horror, his breath quickening. "You're like a soon to me Raphael. My son." Shredder placed a hand on Raph's shoulder, and that was all Raph needed to snap. He let out a growl before lunging at Shredder. The Foot leader saw this coming and stepped back before making his own attack. Raphael was trying to dodge a fist to the gut, just missing the gauntlets' blades that tried to stab him. Shredder growled in frustration. "Coward! Fight back!" Shredder insulted. "You didn't hold back when you killed the Turtles, so why hold back now?"

Raph screamed and threw his sais at the Shredder. He blocked one of them, but the second one hit his helmet. That was all the opportunity Raph needed, kicking him in the knee before pouncing on top of him. When Shredder's head collided with the floor his kuro-kabuto mask fell off with a clank. Raph's heart stopped and his eyes widened even more. What he saw made his blood run cold. He was looking at himself! Shredder Raphael laughed at the red-banded turtle's expression. "Surprised to see me?" He chuckled. "I knew you'd love it! Your expression says it all!"

"No...No I don't love this...What's going on?" Raph demanded, slowly stepping off of Dark Raph. It was like looking in a mirror that showed you your worst nightmare. Raph began to back up slowly.

"You dream about this every night. You wanted to be the next leader of the Foot Clan, remember?" Dark Raph persisted, walking over to his counterpart and draping an arm around him. "You've dreamed of this since our "father" made Lamonardo the leader." He used his fingers as quotations when he said father. "You had just as good a chance as he did, if not better, yet he gave it to his favorite."

"Shut up!" Raph shouted in rage, trying to swing a punch at Dark Raph, who just laughed in return. "Shut up shut up SHUT UP!" Raphael's screams made the darker half laugh even harder.

"We could have taken over the Foot Clan together, but you let your feelings take control. Now look at you. You're pathetic. Slash had a point, you know." Raphael glared daggers at...himself. "You don't need them. They held you back, made you weak. The Dome Head just helped give you a boost." Dark Raph's smile grew even larger when an idea came to his mind. "Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?" Raph found himself back in the lair. His two youngest brothers, Donnie and Mikey, were sitting on the couch, watching as he and Leo argued.

"What is your deal Raphael?!" Leonardo practically shouted. "You could've hurt Mikey!"

"But I didn't!" Raph shouted back. "Don't get up in my shell just because you're the leader. I didn't hurt Mikey, end of discussion." Raph turned to leave when Leo's hand shot out and grabbed Raph's arm. Raph slowly turned his head and glared at Leo. "Let go of my arm Leo." He warned. Leo didn't. Instead, he held tighter.

Leonardo held Raph's glare. "No Raphael." He pulled Raph's arm, causing Raph to turn around and face Leo again. "Your anger has always been the cause of one of us getting hurt. Your hot headed temper is what gets us into trouble. Our family would be a lot safer without YOU!" Raph reeled back at that comment.

"Leo..." Donnie stood up, slowly making his way to Leo's side. He gave his older brother a stern look. Raph glared at Leo, but his glare held no threat. It was more of a pained glare.

Leo realized what he said a little to late. "Raph...I didn't mean it..." Leo stumbled over his words. Raph just turned and ran.

Dark Raph chuckled slightly. "See?" He held his hand out as a gesture. "If your feelings hadn't gotten in the way, then you would've rid yourself pf all this pain. Sad."

"Stop it...please..." Raph begged. He didn't want to see any more. "I can't take it." Tears were poring from Raph's eyes. He shut his eyes tightly and cried, falling on his hands and knees.

"Raph...Raph...Wake Up!" Leo's voice echoed around Raph's head. "Wake up little brother."

Raph's eyes snapped open as he sat up, gasping for breath. His face was wet with tears. He was in his room, Leo was sitting on the edge of his bed, his deep blue eyes full with concern. "You had another nightmare, didn't you?" He whispered. Raph didn't say anything, just hung his head in shame as more tears filled his eyes. He covered his face in his hands and cried, hating how weak he felt. "I heard you scream, and when I got here, you were shouting for it to stop. I tried to wake you up but I couldn't." Raph's green eyes looked into Leo's. Before Leo knew what was happening, Raph was hugging Leo tightly, his face buried in the crook of Leo's neck. "It's okay. I'm here." Leo soothed, rubbing his shell.

Soon Raph's sobs began to subside and his breathing calmed. Leo realized Raph was asleep. Being as careful as he could, Leo slowly laid down on Raph's bed, careful not to wake his brother back up. "It'll be alright. I'll protect you." Leo promised, kissing Raph's forehead before sighing and drifted off to sleep himself.

**THE END**


End file.
